Service-learning and political engagement, efficacy, and apathy: A case study at Sam Houston State University (original) (raw)
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Higher Education Research Institute. UCLA. Retrieved from: http://www. gseis. ucla. edu/heri/understanding_service_learning. html, 2005
Service learning–the pedagogy of connecting academic learning with meaningful community service–represents one important mechanism in higher education that challenges students to see connections between their learning and engagement in larger society. Proponents contend that, in addition to being a good way to strengthen student learning of academic material, service learning participation might strengthen students' commitment to addressing civic and social concerns (Corporation for National and ...
International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement
This study begins to unravel the multiple bidirectional relationships between service-learning pedagogy and civic and academic engagement attitudes and behaviors. A quasi-experimental, nonequivalent comparison group pre- and post-test design was used with a sample of 300 first-semester freshmen participating in either a service-learning-based learning community or a learning community without service-learning. Participants completed a pre-test at the beginning of the semester measuring high school civic and academic engagement behaviors and attitudes and a post-test at the end of the semester measuring the same variables based on their first semester in college. Students with higher civic engagement attitudes and behaviors prior to college were more likely to take a service-learning course than students with lower civic engagement attitudes and behaviors. Students in service-learning were more likely to participate in community activities than students not participating in service-l...
Political Knowledge, Political Engagement, and Civic Education
Annual Review of Political Science, 2001
After decades of neglect, civic education is back on the agenda of political science in the United States. Despite huge increases in the formal educational attainment of the US population during the past 50 years, levels of political knowledge have barely budged. Today's college graduates know no more about politics than did high school graduates in 1950. Recent research indicates that levels of political knowledge affect the acceptance of democratic principles, attitudes toward specific issues, and political participation. There is evidence that political participation is in part a positional good and is shaped by relative as well as absolute levels of educational attainment. Contrary to findings from 30 years ago, recent research suggests that traditional classroom-based civic education can significantly raise political knowledge. Service learning—a combination of community-based civic experience and systematic classroom reflection on that experience—is a promising innovation,...
2013
This study begins to unravel the multiple bidirectional relationships between service-learning pedagogy and civic and academic engagement attitudes and behaviors. A quasi-experimental, nonequivalent comparison group pre-and post-test design was used with a sample of 300 firstsemester freshmen participating in either a service-learning-based learning community or a learning community without service-learning. Participants completed a pre-test at the beginning of the semester measuring high school civic and academic engagement behaviors and attitudes and a posttest at the end of the semester measuring the same variables based on their first semester in college. Students with higher civic engagement attitudes and behaviors prior to college were more likely to take a service-learning course than students with lower civic engagement attitudes and behaviors. Students in service-learning were more likely to participate in community activities than students not participating in service-learning. Finally, within the service-learning groups, students who were more academically engaged had higher academic and civic attitudinal engagement at the end of the course. Students who were more civically engaged were more likely to see lower costs of helping to themselves; they did not change in terms of their beliefs about the community's needs. This study replicates and extends previous research to demonstrate that there are multiple bidirectional relationships among these variables that need to be taken into account in research and practice.
The Relationship Between Service-learning And Civic Engagement In The 2-year College
2013
This study examined the relationship between service-learning and civic engagement in the 2year college and also investigated specific differences between service experiences to determine whether those differences moderated the relationship between service participation and civic engagement outcomes. The study yielded 110 matching pre-and post-Student Civic Engagement surveys from service-learners in five different course subject areas at a large southeastern community college. The findings of the paired-samples t tests suggest that students experienced significant gains in four of the seven dimensions of civic engagement after participating in service. Students in comparable courses in subject matter but without service-components were also surveyed, yielding 117 matching pre-and post-surveys. A comparison of the mean differences between pre-and post-responses of the non-service-learners and service-learners suggests that the service-learners had a higher tendency than the non-service-learners to participate in the majority of assessed civic engagement activities. The data were sorted by subject area to allow for an analysis of the service-learners and the non-service-learners in comparable courses. Those results, however, were inconclusive, and no clear trends emerged. ANOVAs and independent-samples t tests were used to determine the relationship between gains in civic outcomes and select variables. The findings suggest that the type of service-learning activity, the duration of the service experience, the participant-perceived quality of the service experience, the amount of required student reflection, and the teacher's frequency of use of active and passive instructional strategies significantly moderate the relationship between service participation and a number of measures of civic engagement. iv I dedicate this dissertation to my loving and patient partner, Dona, who has not only put up with years of my whining and worry, but has also gently lured me off of the metaphorical ledge more times than I can count. Because of this dissertation, she had a terribly lonely Christmas in 2012. Dona has been my savior in so many more ways than I can express here, and I owe her one very good Christmas. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the supervision and support of my chair and adviser, Dr. Randall Hewitt, who will forever have my gratitude and respect. Dr. Hewitt's sincere interest in helping his students, unwavering enthusiasm for his discipline, and stalwart dedication to the common good will continue to serve as reminders to me to diligently protect that flame which is my passion for teaching and my desire to make a difference. I also would like to make a special reference to Dr. Kay Allen, who was not only a member of my dissertation committee, but also my program adviser for seven years, my professor, and my advocate. I would have never completed this daunting task without Dr. Allen's invaluable guidance, support, and encouragement.
Service Learning and Civic Engagement
Academic Questions, 2007
Outside work can complement what goes on in the classroom in ways that benefit both the community and students. Of course, AQ readers may have heard of tendentious programs and faculty ideologues, who channel student enthusiasm into partisan activism. Still, statistical survey analysis presented here by Mary Prentice suggests that participation in service learning can increase students’ civic engagement, when civic engagement is defined as more than just political action.Outside work can complement what goes on in the classroom in ways that benefit both the community and students. Of course, AQ readers may have heard of tendentious programs and faculty ideologues, who channel student enthusiasm into partisan activism. Still, statistical survey analysis presented here by Mary Prentice suggests that participation in service learning can increase students' civic engagement, when civic engagement is defined as more than just political action.